Scribd
Upload
19 views19 pages

Disorders of Consciousness

Uploaded by

mussa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
19 views19 pages

Disorders of Consciousness

Uploaded by

mussa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 19

Disorders of consciousness

Dr. Sweya. M
Consciousness
• Consciousness refers to the state of being aware of and able to
perceive one's thoughts, feelings, sensations, and the surrounding
environment
• Characterized by:
• Subjective nature
• Privacy
• Intentional: it is directed towards objects
• Unified: it is in a whole and not in fragments or unintegrated parts
Unconsciousness
• Unconsciousness is a state characterized by a lack of awareness,
responsiveness, and conscious thought
• Unconsciousness can be temporary, as in sleep, or it can be induced
during medical procedures
• In emergencies, loss of consciousness may be a sign of a critical
condition, requiring prompt medical attention
Definition of terms
• Vigilance:
• Refers to a heightened state of alertness and watchfulness
• It involves being attentive to one's surroundings, maintaining focus, and
remaining alert for extended periods
• Drowsiness:
• Is a state of reduced alertness and increased tendency to fall asleep
• Characterized by a feeling of sleepiness, decreased attention, impaired
cognitive and physical performance
Definition of terms
• Lucidity:
• Refers to the clarity of thought, clear understanding, or rationality
• It is often associated with a state of mental awareness
• Clouding:
• Clouding, in this context, implies the introduction of factors that obscure,
hinder or disrupt clear thinking.
Disorder of consciousness
• Is a diagnosis given when someone has difficulty maintaining
wakefulness and/or has impaired awareness of him/herself and his/her
environment due to a medical condition
Qualitative changes of consciousness
• Delirium
• Refers to a transient organic mental state of acute onset, characterized by
global impairment of cognitive functions, reduced level of consciousness,
attention abnormalities, increased or decreased psychomotor activity with a
disordered sleep-wake cycle
Fluctuation of consciousness
• A person becomes more disoriented, disturbed in mood, and
distracted with illusions and hallucinations during evenings and
better lucidity in the mornings
• Causes can be, drugs or alcohol abuse, stroke, low blood sugar
Confusion
• Subjective symptoms and objective signs indicating loss of capacity for
clear and coherent thought
• The patient presents with a disturbed thought process
• This can occur in states of brain damage in the chronic organic state
as well as in non-organic brain disturbances
Twilight state
• Refers to the state of interruption of the continuity of consciousness
• It presents as;
• Acute in onset and end
• Variable duration which may go from a few hours duration up to several
weeks
• Occurrence of unexpected violent acts or emotional outbursts during
otherwise normal quiet behavior
• Can occur in epilepsy, alcoholism, and brain trauma
Mania a potu (pathological intoxication)
• Is the type of twilight state associated with alcoholism
• It follows the consumption of a variable quantity of alcohol
• Presents with senseless and violent behaviors followed by a
prolonged sleep
• Total or partial amnesia for the disturbance that occurred
Dream like(oneroid) state
• Patient is disoriented, confused and experiences elaborate
hallucinations, usually visual
• There is impairment of consciousness and marked emotional change
• Appear to be living in a dream world
Stupor
• Reduction in or absence of rational functions i.e action and speech
• A state in which mutism and akinesis occur (inability to initiate speech
or action in a patient who appears awake and even alert
• Complete absence of any voluntary movements
states of Disordered Consciousness
• There are three states of disordered consciousness:
• Minimally conscious state
• Vegetative state
• Coma
• Characteristics of the minimally conscious state
• Sometimes follows simple instructions
• May communicate yes or no by talking or gesturing
• May speak some understandable words or phrases
• May respond to people, things, or other events by:
• crying, smiling, or laughing;
• making sounds or gesturing;
• reaching for objects;
• trying to hold or use an object or
• keeping the eyes focused on people or things for a sustained period of
time whether they are moving or staying still.
• Characteristics of the vegetative state
• Return of a sleep-wake cycle with periods of eye-opening and eye closing
• May moan or make other sounds especially when tight muscles are stretched
• May cry or smile or make other facial expressions without apparent cause
• May briefly move eyes toward persons or objects
• May react to a loud sound with a startle
• Unable to follow instructions
• No speech or other forms of communication
• No purposeful movement

• Characteristics of coma
• No eye-opening
• Unable to follow instructions
• No speech or other forms of communication
• No purposeful movement
Comparison of Coma, Vegetative State, and Minimally Conscious
State

Parameter Coma Vegetative state Minimally Conscious


State
Eye opening No Yes Yes
Sleep/wake cycles No Yes Yes
Visual tracking No No Often
Object recognition No No Inconsistent
Command following No No Inconsistent
Emotions No No Inconsistent
Communicating No No Inconsistent

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy